EAST PEORIA, IL – McKendree University sophomore outside hitter Arela Williams, along with Lewis University junior libero Nicole Yuede, University of Indianapolis freshman setter Maggie Gibson, and Rockhurst head coach Tracy Rietzke have earned major postseason honors for the 2015 Great Lakes Valley Conference Volleyball season, it was announced by the league office Thursday evening. Williams was voted by the league coaches as GLVC Player of the Year, while the Flyers’ Yuede was picked as the Libero of the Year, the Greyhounds’ Gibson was Freshman of the Year, and the Hawks’ Rietzke garnered Coach of the Year accolades. In addition, a total of 22 standouts were named to the 2015 All-Conference Teams. The annual awards were presented Thursday at a reception on the eve of the 2015 GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament.
Williams led the Bearcats and the Conference with total kills, tallying 277 during GLVC-only matches and also bested the league in kills per set (3.90) and points (313). Her 25 service aces in league contests were fourth best in the GLVC as well. On Oct. 26, the sophomore was selected as the GLVC Defensive Player of the Week. Williams’ selection gives the Bearcats’ program their first ever Player of the Year award and only their second major award winner overall, as she is the reigning GLVC Freshman of the Year. Furthermore, the outside hitter becomes the fourth Bearcat in school history and just the second female in any sport to be recognized in the postseason with an individual award. More impressive is the fact that she is now the only McKendree student-athlete to be recognized twice with a major award. Her efforts also placed her on the All-GLVC First Team.
Yuede is Lewis’ first Libero of the Year and the 14th Flyer to earn a major award in the sport. She led the team in league matches with 5.37 digs and 360 total digs while ranking second in the loop for the former mark and fourth in the latter tally. The junior was an integral part of a Lewis squad that ranked as high as 18 in the AVCA DII Coaches Top 25 Poll, while it currently sits at No. 23 with a 27-4 overall record. The junior twice gleaned GLVC Defensive Player of the Week recognition during the season, named as such on both Oct. 19 and Nov. 9. Yuede was also an All-GLVC second-team pick.
Gibson was far and away the Greyhounds’ most active setter, recording 523 total assists in 50 league sets played. Her assist per set mark of 10.46 ranks 3rd in the GLVC. She also finished third on the team with 2.84 digs per set and added a .236 hitting percentage with 35 kills during Conference contests. The setter is Indianapolis’ fourth Freshman of Year award winner as Meghan Binkerd was the most recent selection in 2011. Gibson also took home GLVC Offensive Player of the Week honors Oct. 12 after racking up 9.64 assists per set in three wins, including two double doubles with a .387 hitting percentage.
Rietzke becomes a three-time GLVC Coach of the Year honoree, having also been chosen by his peers in both 2005 and 2012. This 2015 campaign was a record-breaking one for the Hawks that included going 15-0 at home, which extended an unbeaten run in Kansas City to 37 matches that dates all the way back to Oct. 12, 2013. The skipper also guided his program to a No. 5 AVCA ranking in the most recent poll released Nov. 16, while his Hawks rank first in the nation for win-loss percentage (0.938). Rietzke mentored three first-team All-GLVC nominees in senior setter Whitney Kostal, junior outside hitter Morgan Rietzke, and senior middle hitter Preecy Seever. Morgan Rietzke is a three-time All-league honoree, Seever has been chosen back-to-back to the First Team, while Kostal garners her fourth-straight nod to an All-Conference team. The 28-year veteran led his group to their 11th straight appearance in the postseason event and will be seeking his second GLVC Championship Tournament title, winning his first in 2012.
Fifteen other volleyball stars earned recognition from the GLVC coaches, as two eight-member All-Conference teams and a six-member honorable mention squad were also released on Thursday.
Of the 22 All-Conference selections, Rockhurst led the way with six representatives, putting three on the First Team and three on the honorable mention team. Lewis and University of Wisconsin-Parkside followed with three selections each, while the Flyers had one first teamer and two second-team nods and the Rangers put one on the First Team with the other two voted honorable mention. With two selections each were Drury University, McKendree and Missouri S&T. Both standouts for the Panthers and Bearcats landed on the First, while one apiece for S&T’s distinctions went to the First Team and honorable mention squad. The remaining four honorees rounded out the second team and came from UIndy, Maryville University, University of Southern Indiana and Truman State University.
Joining the three Hawks and McKendree’s Williams on the first-team All-GLVC squad were Drury’s Brooke Antenen, Lewis’ Alexis Davito, S&T’s Krista Haslag and Parkside’s Rebecca Roembke.
A complete list of the three All-Conference Teams and major postseason award winners follows below.
GLVC Volleyball action resumes Friday with #1W Rockhurst, #1E McKendree, #2W Missouri S&T, #2E Lewis, #3W Drury, #3E Indianapolis, #4W Southern Indiana and #4E UW-Parkside competing in quarterfinal action of the 2015 GLVC Volleyball Championship Tournament, hosted by the GLVC at the EastSide Centre in East Peoria, Illinois. The quarterfinal rounds will take place Nov. 20 at 12 p.m. Central Time, 2:30 p.m., 5 p.m. and 7:30 p.m., along with both semifinal matches on Saturday, Nov. 21 at 3 p.m. and 5:30 p.m. as well as Sunday’s noon Championship match Nov. 22. All seven matches will stream live on the GLVC Sports Network at GLVCsports.com/watch.
2015 VOLEYBALL ALL-GLVC TEAMS & POSTSEASON HONORS
Player of the Year
Arela Williams, OH, So., MCK
Libero of the Year
Nicole Yuede, L, Jr., LU
Freshman of the Year
Maggie Gibson, S, Fr., UINDY
Coach of the Year
Tracy Rietzke, Rockhurst
FIRST TEAM
Brooke Antenen, S/RS, Jr., Drury
Alexis Davito, RS, Sr., Lewis
Arela Williams, OH, So., McKendree
Krista Haslag, MH, Sr., Missouri S&T
Whitney Kostal, S, Sr., Rockhurst
Morgan Rietzke, OH, Jr., Rockhurst
Preecy Seever, MH, Sr., Rockhurst
Rebecca Roembke, OH, Jr., UW-Parkside
SECOND TEAM
BJ Specht, OH, Sr., Drury
Becca Lira, RS/OH, Jr., Indianapolis
Aly Schneider, MH, So., Lewis
Nicole Yuede, L, Jr., Lewis
Ali Lampen, L, Jr., Maryville
Sophie Fairman, MB, Jr., McKendree
Abbey Winter, MB, Sr., Southern Indiana
Ali Patterson, MB, Sr., Truman State
HONORABLE MENTION
Jackie Pyles, L, Sr., Missouri S&T
Alyssa Arnold, RS, Sr., Rockhurst
Anne Hellwege, L, So., Rockhurst
Katie Loescher, MH, Sr., Rockhurst
Lauren Hickson, S, Jr., UW-Parkside
Jackie Langer, OH, So., UW-Parkside